5 Times Lance and Keith Misread the Situation (1 Time They Didn't)
by The-Angst-Chronicles
Summary: Keith and Lance like each other. But everyone is sure that each is dating his best friend. Understandably.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay so maybe I cheated and maybe there's more than just 5 times lmao. I really love these really close friendships fyi.**

* * *

Of all the things to be done aboard the Castle, training was easily one of Hunk's least favourite. Which was why he was more than happy to be sitting on the sidelines right now, watching Keith and Lance going at it. They had all been paired off and Hunk had lost his match to Pidge already (the gremlin was crafty, okay?), so the pair of them were watching their friends' match.

"YEAH! GET HIM LANCE!" He cheered as Lance managed to land a punch. If he was being honest, Lance had no chance – not wielding a gun and not up against Keith who probably lived his life dreaming of his next training session (whereas Lance hated it nearly as much as Hunk did). He cheered anyway because Lance was his best bro and he was great friend, thank you very much.

He saw as Lance grinned at his little triumph, getting a bit cocky – and then he was down, pinned under Keith who had a hand around both his wrists and his bayard – dulled in training mode – levelled at his throat. Lance's face went red, embarrassed as he realized his situation, and Keith gave a small, proud smirk and taunted "Better luck next time Serrano."

"Yeah yeah, get off me," Lance grumbled half-heartedly, rolling up into a sitting position as Keith backed off. "I'll get you next time mullet."

Keith smirked back and gave his usual answer to this particular song "I'd like to see you try."

Shiro clapped his hands before anything else could be said. "Good job guys," he called. Hunk held his breath, hoping…"You all did great. That's it for today!"

Yes! He let out a whoop before tugging his helmet off and releasing a sigh of relief at the sweet kiss of fresh air on his skin. He spared a moment to just enjoy his freedom before getting to work on his armour, fumbling with the clips on his leg braces. Lance made his way over to him and started tugging off his gauntlets, while Pidge just bee-lined out of the room in full armour as she did every day.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shiro walking up to Keith and putting a hand on his shoulder. "You were really great today," he praised quietly, before moving his hand up to ruffle Keith's hair. Keith seemed to melt into the touch, his smirk easing into a smile that made him seem much less attack-y and more friendly as he bumped Shiro's chest with his shoulder. Hunk smiled to himself. It was good to see Keith relaxing.

Suddenly there was a clatter next to him. He looked over as Lance abruptly collected the few pieces of armour he had managed to remove and stalked out of the room. Hunk paused in confusion. Lance never left without taking off his armour; Hunk knew how he hated the heat and weight of it after a training session.

Concerned, he tugged off his last piece – the breastplate – quickly and followed after his friend. Lance was already out of sight by the time he left the training room, but if he wasn't heading for a shower Hunk would eat his headband. So he turned left and set off at a jog – and sure enough, two corridors later there he was, stomping down the hall and muttering to himself.

Hunk smiled fondly at his best friend and quickened his pace to catch up with him. His eyes widened slightly in confusion as he got close enough to hear that Lance was muttering about 'stupid Keith'. The two had been getting along lately, so he was surprised to hear this now. He wondered what brought it on – was it about being beaten at training?

He decided to just ask. "Hey Lance," he said faux-casually, delighting in the little surprised shriek Lance let out. His friend turned around, face red.

"Hunk! What have I told you about sneaking up on people?" He complained, smacking Hunk's shoulder lightly.

Hunk just chuckled, waving off the disapproval. "It's not my fault you were too far off in broody-land to hear me coming," he answered. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Lance replied, far too quickly. Hunk narrowed his eyes at him, but Lance was looking straight ahead now and marching determinedly forward.

"Not buying it," he told him when Lance didn't seem inclined to crack. Lance gave him a stink eye, but Hunk stayed firm. "You might as well tell me, you know you wanna."

"I really don't," Lance muttered back. Hunk crossed his arms and stared at him, but Lance still didn't budge.

This was…unusual, to say the least. Lance wasn't too prone to dramatics around Hunk – he'd told Hunk once that he was his calm and stable root, which was weird but sweet. He wondered what was bothering Lance so much that he didn't want to share with the one person he shared everything with.

The thought that he should drop it crossed his mind briefly, but it was gone almost instantaneously. Hunk was a great many things, and nosy was definitely one of those things. Plus, he was worried about his friend. So he didn't feel bad pushing a little further.

"Is this about Keith?" He asked carefully, and bingo! Lance stiffened up, almost unnoticeably, and his steps faltered for just a moment before he regained his pace.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he denied shortly, visibly forcing himself to relax.

Hunk smirked at the unspoken confirmation and put his hand on Lance's shoulder soothingly as they reached the shower rooms. "Don't stress it man, you lasted really long back there. Shiro is the only one who's been able to beat Keith… he practically lives in the training room! I bet he's smuggled a bed in there somewhere so he can take intermissions from sleeping to fight robots!"

"Heh…yeah…" Lance replied as he dropped his gauntlets unceremoniously onto a bench, and Hunk frowned. His friend was still wallowing, and Hunk didn't know what to do. Usually if he was feeling bad about losing to Keith, Hunk's assurance would have done the trick.

"Where's your head at bud?" He asked softly as he passed his friend a towel. Lance huffed but didn't answer, his face red as he buried it into the material. Hunk stilled as he recognized the behaviour, flashes of Lance's flustered hiding when the pining over a crush got too strong alerting him to the situation. He wasn't blushing from _embarrassment_ , he was blushing because…

Hunk's armour clattered to the floor as he clapped his hands to his mouth, a muffled "Oh my GOSH!" working its way through his fingers.

Lance's ears reddened, and then Hunk was hit with a face-full of towel as Lance shrieked "Don't you say a _word_!"

Pulling the towel from his face, Hunk pointed accusingly at Lance. "You have a crush on _Keith_ ," he said.

"NO!" Lance screeched as he lunged at Hunk and tried to put a hand over his mouth, but his face was even redder than before and there was no hiding it now. Hunk caught his flailing friend by the wrists, letting out a laugh. A crush was like…the least worrisome option out of all the possible reasons for Lance's mood.

"Aww Lancey, you don't have to hide that," he said, "I think it's cute. You two would make an adorable couple! Ohh!" He lit up as an idea occurred to him. "Can I be your wingman? You know I did a great job with Robin back at the Garrison, and-"

He was cut off as Lance slumped against him. "Hunk I love you but _come on_ ," he groused, sounding exasperated. "There's no way you didn't notice that Keith and Shiro are dating."

Hunk stared down at his friend's head, bewildered. "What?" he asked blankly. "Since when?"

"I don't know since when! It's obvious they are though. You saw them back there!"

He tried to think back. After the match, Shiro had gone up and congratulated Keith… had there been anything else? A little affection, sure, but nothing to conclude that they were dating. Lance was prone to being a little dramatic though – this wasn't the first time Hunk had to get some strange ill-gotten idea from his head.

"Yeah, no, I didn't see any dating going on," he told his friend, dropping his arms now that he deemed that Lance was no longer rowdy. Lance huffed and rocked back on his heels.

"He ruffled his _hair_!" He said, as if that proved his point. Hunk looked at him blankly.

"What does that mean? I ruffle your hair all the time! It's a friendly gesture."

"Yeah, but I'm a touchy guy and you're a touchy guy and _Keith_ is not a touchy guy," Lance retorted. "He barely lets us hug him!" Hunk gave him a disbelieving look and Lance threw his hands up. "They're always touching! In fact, Shiro is like the _only_ person that Keith touches!"

Hunk opened his mouth to argue, and then paused as he thought about it. It was true that Keith didn't seem to like hugs, and tensed up most of the time when one of them touched him – except with Shiro. They _were_ more touchy with each other than with anyone else, they were often gravitating toward each other when in the same room, and they always came in to breakfast together. It wouldn't mean anything normally, not for him or for Lance, but both Keith and Shiro were wary and closed off and the way they _relaxed_ around each other could be nothing but it could also very likely be everything.

Lance read the thought in his face and smiled mirthlessly. "Told you so," he said, his voice more sad than gloating, and Hunk felt his heart break for him.

"Aww buddy," he sighed, pulling Lance in for a hug. His best friend came willingly, wrapping his skinny arms around Hunk and resting his head on his chest with a sigh. Hunk squeezed him, putting as much comfort into the hug as he could.

He held him there for a long moment before pulling back and pressing a kiss to Lance's forehead. "I'm always here to talk if you need it," he told him in a low, serious voice.

Lance met his eyes, looking for a strength that Hunk hoped he was projecting, before nodding solemnly and managing a shaky smile. "I know," he replied, soft but confident.

Hunk returned the smile and handed him back his towel. "How about we hit the showers, and then I'll see what I can do about making a space cake?" He suggested.

"Oh my god I love you," Lance moaned, snatching the towel from Hunk with one hand and frantically trying to unlatch the clips of his breastplate with the other. Hunk laughed and reached over to help him, glad that he'd managed to lift his friend's spirits.

* * *

Keith waved goodbye to Shiro before he turned and made his way out of the training room, taking a left and heading toward the showers. He felt…good. Better than good actually. A sensation of happy contentment coursed through him, almost uncomfortable in its warmth.

The pride in Shiro's eyes and voice when he'd come over to praise Keith on his training efforts played in his mind, making his chest rise. Keith wanted to make him proud, wanted to be the person that Shiro had seen when he had peered inside the shell of anger Keith had worn and decided that what he found was worth taking a chance on. He would do everything in his power to prove to Shiro – and, more importantly, to himself – that that trust and belief had not been misplaced. Not that Shiro expected him to. No, Keith knew he loved him unconditionally. It was for that very reason that Shiro's was the only opinion Keith cared about.

Well…maybe not the only one. Keith felt his face warm as his mind wandered to the other paladin he'd been feeling especially driven to impress lately. If someone had told him two years ago that he'd be feeling all soft and mushy over Lance he'd… well, he probably wouldn't know who they were talking about to be honest. Lance had somehow slipped under his radar at the Garrison, although the idea that there had been a time when he hadn't known Lance was frankly bizarre to him now.

He was just so… bright, and good and friendly and _caring_ , wrapped in a ridiculous and endearing layer of bluster and childishness. And he was gorgeous, Keith wasn't ashamed to admit it anymore. He didn't know when his exasperation with Lance's antics had turned to fondness, but somewhere along the way it had. And along with that had come a new, healthy dose of pining.

Because now that he was no longer pushing it away with both hands, the truth of how attracted he was to Lance was impossible to ignore. Everything about him made Keith's heart beat faster: his personality, his smile, his carefree spirt, his laugh, his body... And Keith had gotten a good look at that today, hadn't he? He felt his cheeks darken as he remembered the training session earlier, the image of Lance pinned beneath him all flushed and panting and tousled and –

Keith forcibly tore himself away from that train of thought as another wave of heat rose through his veins. There was no way he was springing a boner now, not when he was due to meet Pidge after a quick shower to talk about some upgrade ideas she had for Red. Just to be on the safe side, though, he might take his shower a little colder than usual. He picked up his pace, eager to get there before his mind wandered any more.

It wasn't a long walk – the Castle had _many_ bathrooms for some reason, but Keith had only memorized the locations of those nearest to the training room and to their quarters – and he arrived in little time. The doors slid open silently for him as he approached, but the sight that they revealed left him frozen.

It was Hunk and Lance, pulling apart but still holding one another. As he watched, Hunk leaned in to Lance and said something in a low, intimate voice. The two made eye contact and Lance gave a small smile and murmured back. Neither of them noticed Keith as he ducked back around the corner, listening to Hunk suggest that they go shower and offer to make cake, and Lance…

And Lance saying he _loved_ him.

Suddenly, Keith wanted to be very far away from the pair of them. His heart felt like it was cracking in his chest, which was _stupid_ because Keith had only figured about his crush on Lance recently and there was no reason that finding out Lance and Hunk were apparently dating should be affecting him so strongly.

Except it was, and Keith couldn't figure out if he wanted to scream or punch something. Going back to the training room and taking out the knot in his chest on some training bots sounded like a great idea, but then Shiro would get concerned and Keith did _not_ want to talk about this.

So instead, he turned and made his way down the hall. He'd just go to the other showers, the one closer to their rooms. It would be empty; if he screamed or punched a wall, nobody would see. And if the sting of tears touched his eyes, there would be nobody to call him out on it.

He just had to get over it. It had been stupid of him to catch feelings for somebody like Lance anyway – someone that bright and beautiful was obviously bound to be taken. What had he been thinking?

* * *

 **I know I was supposed to be writing other story, but honestly if I wasn't writing this I wouldn't have been writing anything. This muse came to** **me through writer's block, and she is a small muse but I love her.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

Just fyi, this is very much an AU where Shiro was never a clone and the lionup never changed and they still went to Bob's game, the name of which I can never remember, and if that's a problem then… stop reading I guess idgaf.

I've had this done for 3 days now lol but my tablet was dead and I kept forgetting to charge it…

* * *

 _"Okay, but there are an uneven number of us. How are we gonna do teams?"_

 _"Well, one team is going to have to be smaller, duh."_

 _"Isn't that unfair?"_

 _"Hah! If Hunk and I pair up you could have a hundred person team and we'd still win!"_

 _"…Lance, we all saw you with that cosmic space guessing game. I_ highly _doubt that."_

 _"WELL IT'S NOT MY FAULT KEITH CAN'T DRAW! Besides, Taboo is different. Hunk and I have never lost Taboo."_

 _"I can so-"_

 _"Suuure Lance-"_

 _"Guys, he's not-"_

 _"Alright bigmouth, you're on! Me and Hunk versus you three."_

 _"Yeah? I'll show you how it's done. Prepare to eat your words Serrano!"_

 _"You're ON!"_

 _"…Can we just play already?"_

* * *

In retrospect, maybe they should have taken Lance a little more seriously. Shiro could only watch in stunned awe as Hunk picked up yet another card.

"Hey babe, slurp slurp," was what he said upon reading it, which at the beginning of the game would have confused Shiro – after three rounds, however, he had come to expect these sorts of ridiculous clues. Lance, of course, understood it with little problem.

"Cactus!" He exclaimed, and Hunk beamed.

"Yup, next one. Ooh okay, key part of backup plan E?" He asked, and Shiro watched as Pidge's eye twitched in annoyance. He sort of felt bad for her – she had been very excited to show off her Taboo skills, and to her credit she was actually very good at the game. The problem was that no amount of eloquence could make up for what was clearly years of inside jokes and references.

"E was…vinegar?" Lance guessed, one of the few times in the game he'd sounded uncertain. Shiro briefly wondered what on Earth this backup plan was about, but decided he probably didn't want to know.

"No that was D. E was-"

"OH, lipstick!" Yup, he definitely didn't want to know.

"Got it! Next is…the best birds."

"Lizards?"

"Yes-"

"That's not even a bird," interrupted Keith, who had been getting increasingly baffled and had finally had enough.

"You're just jealous because we're winning," retorted Lance, turning to stick out his tongue.

Keith bristled, his face going red, but before they could start an argument Hunk intervened. "We're on a time limit Lance," he reminded serenely without looking up from the card in his hand. Lance huffed, but turned away from Keith.

"Alright what is it?" He prompted.

"The villain in my first nightmare."

Lance perked up, a grin spreading across his face. "Mrs. Clause!"

"Correct," said Hunk, reaching for another card. Before he could touch it, however, a ringing chime alerted them that the timer was up. "Darn," said Hunk, sitting back down. "How many was that?"

"Seven…I think," said Lance, counting on his fingers.

"I swear, you two are like an old married couple." Pidge grumbled, gesturing for Keith to draw a card. Matching grins immediately sprouted across both boys' face.

"We are," replied Hunk seriously, at the same time as Lance said "He's my _husband_!" Shiro watched bemusedly as they turned their faces and leaned toward one another in unison, both clearly not expecting the other to be there given that they wound up with Hunk smashing his mouth into Lance's nose and Lance bumping his lips awkwardly on Hunk's chin.

They drew apart with a loud laugh from Hunk and an indignant screech from Lance, and Shiro couldn't keep his amused snort down. Pidge didn't even try, guffawing shamelessly, and after a moment of bemused silence Lance joined in, leaning against Hunk's shaking shoulders as he dissolved into his own giggles.

Shiro shook his head in fond exasperation before glancing down at Keith to see if he was ready to give their hint. He was met with the sight of Keith thin-lipped and silent, the taboo card crushed in his fist as he glared at the floor.

Worry immediately welled up in him – he didn't know what was wrong, but whatever it was he didn't want to let Keith fester with it. He reached over and gently took the card from Keith, putting it aside before closing his hand around his friends in a hopefully reassuring gesture.

"I think Keith and I are done for the night," he announced to the room, before drawing Keith up and leading him out of the room. He led them to his own room, only letting Keith go once the door had slid shut behind them. Then he dropped Keith's hand and moved to the bed, patting the space opposite him. He spread his arms as Keith clambered up, a silent offering of a hug that Keith accepted after a moment's hesitation.

"What's wrong buddy?" He asked quietly once Keith was settled. His friend frowned, and Shiro gave a slight squeeze, at once reassuring and coaxing. "It's just us here. You know I won't judge you Keith," he reminded.

A moment passed, and then the tension drained from Keith's body and he slumped against Shiro. "It's Lance," he grumbled, turning his face into Shiro's shoulder so that the words were almost lost into the fabric of his shirt.

"Lance?" Shiro asked, absently petting the back of Keith's head as the wheels in his mind spun. Keith and Lance had been getting along fairly decently lately – by their standards at least – and even their little spat during the Taboo game had been minor. Had they taken their fighting private?

Keith swatted his hand away and sat back, his face settling into a frown. When he spoke, his voice was low and gruff, and Shiro had to lean in to hear him. "He's just so…" He paused, searching for the right adjective, " _cute_." Okay, that hadn't been what Shiro was expecting. He pulled his head back, looking down at Keith in surprise.

"Cute?" He echoed.

Keith nodded, his face red. "And beautiful. And funny. And perfect," he added earnestly, as if it were important that Shiro know each of these things. Shiro looked down at him, surprised at the ease with which he acknowledged his feelings. When he had first taken him under his wing Keith had been hurt and angry, scorned by his own caring and fighting against getting close to people despite how he longed for the connection. Seeing how far he'd come, opening his heart up again and accepting his feelings without a hint of shame, warmed his heart.

But even as Keith had opened up to his feelings, something about them was causing him to be upset. Had he approached Lance and been spurned? Shiro decided to just be direct – Keith generally responded well to that approach.

"You like him," he said simply. Keith nodded again. "And he doesn't like you back?" Shiro surmised.

"He's with Hunk," Keith replied, looking down. Shiro's heart clenched at how sad he looked.

"He told you that?" He asked carefully. Lance and Hunk were very close – their game earlier being a great example – but Shiro had always assumed that the closeness could be attributed to them being best friends. Keith was not very experienced with interpersonal relationships – it was possible he had misconstrued something.

Keith shook his head. "I …saw them. Together," he said dully, his fingers picking at the scratchy, standard-issue blanket beside him. Shiro's heart ached for his best friend and he pulled him in close again.

"I'm sorry," he said helplessly. Keith didn't reply, but tightened his arms around Shiro's shoulders and sank into the embrace.

* * *

"I think Keith and I are done for the night."

Hunk looked around at Shiro in surprise, his laughter petering off as he opened his mouth to ask what was going on. He was met with the sight of the pair already leaving, hands clasped and not sparing a backward glance. As he watched, Shiro pulled Keith even closer until he was pressed against his side, all the while never letting go of his hand.

He turned and shot a concerned look at Lance, who returned a tight smile as he leaned over to straighten the pile of Taboo cards. So he had noticed. Damn. He wanted to ask how Lance was doing, but a loud sigh from his other side reminded him that they were not alone.

"Some teammates!" Pidge grumbled, tugging the cards from Lance unceremoniously and tossing them back into their box. "Leaving me high and dry to go and _canoodle_!"

Lance's eyebrows tightened imperceptibly, and Hunk frowned. "Pidge!" he chastised.

"What?" She complained, throwing her hands up in the air. Hunk gave her a stern look, and she huffed and dropped them, crossing them over her chest instead. "Fine, geez. You guys are booring!" Hunk shrugged, glancing at Lance again and trying to catch his gaze. Lance wasn't cooperating, and Hunk didn't know if he was avoiding the gaze or if he just hadn't noticed – either way, he was concerned.

Pidge huffed. "I guess we'll have to find something else to play since my teammates _abandoned me_ ," she complained.

Hunk glanced between her and Lance and came to a quick decision. "Actually," he interjected before she could get too far into her search, putting a hand on Lance's shoulder and shoving slightly to convey his plan to leave. Lance glanced back at him, then shrugged and pushed to his feet. Hunk followed suit, giving Pidge a rueful smile as he started steering them to the door. "Lance and I have something to do too so… we'll see you later?"

Lance called out a quick "Bye," as Hunk shoved him through the door, a loud shriek of "I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS!" following them from the common room.

"My room," he told Lance, who gave him a small, grateful smile. Hunk grinned back as his friend turned and began making his way down the hall.

The rest of the walk was silent, but not uncomfortable. Lance's shoulders had loosened and he leant slightly into Hunk's shoulder as he walked, taking the comfort that Hunk offered easily. By the time they made it back to his room, the worry that Hunk had been feeling had more or less dissipated.

As soon as they were through the door he turned to his friend and opened his arms. Lance wasted no time, falling into the hug with a grunt and letting Hunk maneuver them both over to the bed.

Hunk rubbed his back soothingly. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked.

Lance shook his head. "I'm okay," he replied. Hunk raised a disbelieving eyebrow but before he could vocalize it, his friend huffed. "I am," he insisted. "I mean, yeah it sucks and I'm not… _happy_ about seeing them together but…" he broke off with a sigh. "It's not like I didn't know right? So I'm okay, I just… have to get over it."

"Is there anything I can do?" Hunk asked, concerned as ever when one of his friends was struggling. Lance hummed for a moment.

"Just… want cuddles," he decided.

Hunk smiled down at him. "Anytime," he promised, kissing the top of Lance's head before pulling them both down to lie on the bed so that they could cuddle properly. It was a familiar routine whenever one of them was upset, and it wasn't long before they both dozed off, safe in the comfort of their best friend.

I honestly think that I need to write these kind of silly fics once in a while, it's definitely getting me writing more. Even tho it's not the greatest haha.


End file.
